Montblanc Vintage 1930–1939 The III. Sorte and the third series: A, B, C, 322 to 326 and 332 to 334½

The III. Sorte (“third grade”) of 1932 was Montblanc’s simpler and less expensive line, an answer to the world economic crisis. It came as push-button and safety pens in sizes A, B and C. In 1935 it became the third series with the push-button fillers 322 to 326 and the piston fillers 332 to 334½.

A line for the crisis

In 1932 more than six million people in Germany were out of work, and for most of them the brand’s fountain pens had become too expensive. Montblanc therefore brought out a simpler and less expensive line. Anyone who bought a III. Sorte pen could exchange it for a Meisterstück within one year and paid only the difference. According to volume I and the Diary, only about five per cent of buyers made use of this; the line was nevertheless a success and won new customers.

A coin came with the pens of the III. Sorte. Whoever later changed to a Meisterstück received a discount with it. At least three versions are known in Germany, and similar coins existed in other countries, for example in Spain. They were issued by Montblanc itself and by the dealer Stöffhaas, perhaps also by other dealers (forum post (Fountain Pen Network) of 11 June 2014, forum post (Fountain Pen Network) of 13 June 2014).

A sales sheet of 1932 offers the III. Sorte in two systems, each with or without a clip and in sizes A, B and C:

• with the “modern self-filling system” — the push-button filler — in black, “Aquilblau” and “Perlsilber”
• with the safety system in black only

The sheet also stresses that everything from the nib to the smallest part was made in Germany. According to the text of volume I, Montblanc used the push-button filler for its simplest pens from 1930 and made it in Germany until 1939 and in Denmark until 1952.

How to recognise them

The III. Sorte was plain:

• at first without cap rings, with a round cap top
• instead of the inlaid white star only an embossed outline, which volume I describes as coloured white; according to a forum post of 16 September 2005 the area was never filled
• on the cap “III MONT BLANC III” with the mountain, on the barrel “ORIGINAL SIMPLO MONTBLANC”, on the push-button fillers with “PATENT ang.” according to the Diary
• nibs with “WARRANTED”, “14 KAR.” and, in a triangle, the letter of the size — a, b or c, corresponding to sizes 2, 4 and 6 (forum post of 7 March 2005)
• on the blind cap the matching capital A, B or C

Such a nib also existed in 18 carat in 1932–1933, according to volume I probably for the French market. The clip was optional; the usual one was the teardrop clip (forum post of 22 June 2008), which volume I dates to 1930–1934.

Sizes A, B and C (1932–1935)

The push-button fillers A, B and C (15.0, 15.5 and 16.0 cm, Ø 1.25, 1.35 and 1.45 cm) came in black, azurite blue, malachite green and pearl marbled in 1932–1934. The B also came in a streamlined version as the “Lady”, black or black and pearl. In 1934–1935 all three sizes received two cap rings, and A and B now also came in red ripple.

Volume I lists the safety pens A, B and C (17.0, 17.4 and 17.5 cm) for 1932–1934 in black only; they also appear on the page safety pens of the 1930s. The B of the III. Sorte was a push-button filler, as volume I lists it too. Volume I names a piston filler “b” only under the dealer brand Klawun (dealer brands and sub-brands).

The third series from 1935: push-button fillers 322 to 326

In 1935 the III. Sorte became the third series, whose numbers begin with a 3. According to a forum post of 3 July 2004 these were not purely pupils’ pens but the third line, also for adults. Its mark remained the outlined star, and one cap ring was added.

The push-button fillers are the 322, 324 and 326. Volume I lists them in these versions:

• black until 1940 (322), 1939 (324) and 1938 (326)
• in azurite blue, malachite green and pearl marbled until 1937 or 1938
• platinum striped with one or two cap rings
• in the export colours brown, dark green, blue, grey and burgundy marbled with two cap rings
• in 1937–1938 also the shorter 322 k (13.3 cm)

According to volume I the nibs are marked “a” or “2” (322), “b” (324) and “c” (326). The Diary shows nibs with “MONTBLANC” and the size in the star and gives the letter nibs as possible. Volume I also lists a nib “3½ MONT BLANC 14 C” for the 222 and 322 (1936–1940).

The piston fillers 332 to 334½

The 334 (1935–1936) has a long cap top like the 235 of the second series, an engraved star and a nib with a triangle — “b” according to the Diary. It came in black, azurite blue, malachite green, burgundy and lapis (blue and gold marbled).

From 1936 the 332, 333½ and 334½ followed with one cap ring and an engraved star:

• black until 1942
• the 333½ and 334½ in azurite blue and malachite green until 1938
• the 333½ in 1935–1937 also brown, dark green, blue, grey and burgundy marbled with two cap rings
• the 334½ blue marbled in 1936–1938, also with two rings

The 332 had a gold or steel nib, the 334½ also a steel nib. For the 333½ and 334½ the Diary gives nibs “3½ MONTBLANC 14 C” and “4½ MONTBLANC 14 C”. As the clip of the third series volume I shows the arrow clip (1935–1948). How the range continued during and after the war is described on the page third series of the 1940s.

Export and dealer versions

According to volume I the coloured pens with two cap rings were export or dealer versions; for abroad there were also celluloid colours that are not recorded anywhere. Some pens carry the name of a dealer.

A 322 k in black and pearl on this website has the imprint “STÖFFHAAS” on the cap next to “MONT BLANC”. The stationer Stöffhaas opened the first Montblanc specialist shop together with the Simplo Füllfeder-Gesellschaft (Montblanc-Simplo only from 1934) in 1919, and Montblanc made most of the Stöffhaas pens until the end of the 1930s.

Photos of further pens are on the pages for the III. Sorte in size A, size B, size C in azurite blue and black and pearl, the safety pen B, the safety pen 302 and the 322 in black, platinum stripes, azurite blue and black and pearl.